Baby Back
by AK-tutti
Summary: Gabriella Montez is happily married to Troy Bolton and have three beautiful kids, but what happens when secrets from the past comes back to possibly ruin her content life. She might just lose one of her kids, and her marriage might suffer. A Troypay fic
1. Chapter 1

_Hello there. I just writed this thing awhile ago, like years ago. I recently just found it and thought to myself that I shouldn't just delete this. So I'm posting it now to just get it out of my system. I hope that once you've read it you'll let me know your thoughts ;). Here we go :)._

_**Disclaimer;**__ I feel it's crazy I have to tell everybody that I don't own the High School Musical franchise. Seriously, I think people know._

**My Baby**

**Chapter 1.**

It was a saturday morning, and Gabriella Bolton was sleeping in - at least in her own little world she was. When she woke up it was 7:30 in the morning, and that was sleeping in for Gabriella. She couldn't remember who woke her this particular saturday, though. If she woke on her own, or if it was the three kids jumping squealing into the bed between her and her husband that did the trick, but she definitely woke up.

She rubbed the sleepdust out of her eyes, and then she watched her kids with a smile while Troy slowly woke up. She was a morning person, and he clearly wasn't, but they suited each other anyways. She had a smile for him as well, and then they both watched the kid, jumping up and down in the bed. They were going to the zoo today, Troy had promised them. Gabriella couldn't go, though, she had to work at the clinic.

Gabriella had two jobs, and only one of them payed. Mondays to fridays she worked as a pre-school teacher, and on weekends she offered her help to the clinic. She had always been kind of a good samaritan like that, even in high school she did deeds no-one else at her age - no matter how angel-like - would ever do.

Troy had his weekends off. He was playing for Albuquerque's local basketball team, still trying to get into the NBA and being unsuccessful so far. He was trying, and he had been trying for as long as Gabriella had known him. They had met in college, gotten married in college, had kids in college, but that never took Troy's head out of the game.

They were both 23, so they had been out of college for a while. They got married at 19, had their first kid together at 20 and their next at 21, and that would make them 3 and 2. Their names were Kyle and Alyssa. Kyle was the oldest of the two, and he would never let Alyssa hear the end of it. They were Troy's only kids, but Gabriella had one who was slightly older than the two toddlers. She also had a daughter who went by the name Shelby and was 6 years old.

Troy had been shocked when he and Gabriella had first started going out, and he learned that Gabriella at 18 already had a 1 year old, but he had been great with Shelby from the very beginning. Maybe he wasn't her biological father, but that didn't mean that he wasn't Shelby's real father, and to be honest Shelby was a total daddy's girl.

Gabriella had a great life. She concluded that while watching Troy grab Shelby and tickle the life out of. Gabriella cracked a smile, and then she grabbed Kyle in one arm and Alyssa in the other, pulling them in for a hug while Shelby was still being tickled. That girl had the most amazing laugh, it was so infectious, and it made other people want to laugh as well.

"Okay!" Troy then shouted with his 'look at me everybody' voice, and then he stood up and took Shelby under his arm and carried her with him out of the bedroom while he said; "Who is ready to go to the zoo?"

Kyle and Alyssa couldn't get out of their mother's arms fast enough and hurried after their father, afraid that if they didn't keep up they wouldn't get to go to the zoo. They loved animals, especially Alyssa. When she grew up she wanted to own a unicorn farm. Gabriella hadn't had the heart to tell her that unicorns didn't exist.

"Hey!" Gabriella yelled after them when she was left all to herself, but she quickly got of bed as well and made her way into the kitchen. Breakfast wasn't gonna make itself, and Troy only knew how to cook chicken noodles (did I mention it was cup noodles). "So what do we want for breakfast today?"

She didn't know why she even asked that question. It was a zoo day, and they had special cereal in this house that they only got on zoo days. It was cereal shaped like different animals with chocolate filling inside. They loved it, but they only got it on zoo days, and Gabriella reckoned it was one of the reasons why they loved zoo days so much.

"Oh, I know! How about these?" She questioned and acted all excited, as she pulled the cereal box out of the cabinet. All three kids squealed in delight, and Gabriella and Troy both chuckled. She put the cereal box down on the kitchen table and got some milk out of the fridge for them. "There you go, sweet peas. Your special zoo cereal."

Troy grabbed the box and helped pour it into a bowl both for Kyle and Alyssa, as they were too young to do it themselves. They had insisted once and had also been allowed, but then there had been cereal everywhere, and that hadn't been a pretty sight. When he was done with that he handed it to Shelby, as she was capable of doing it herself, and then he poured milk on the cereal for them. They happily ate it.

Gabriella watched as the kids ate, and she hated that she couldn't go with them to the zoo, but she felt obligated to do all these good deeds somehow. She turned to Troy and decided to let him know what was going on in her mind. "I really wish I could go with you to the zoo." She revealed with a sigh, and Troy showed his support by reaching across the kitchen table and grabbing her hand, squeezing it to let her know he was there for her whenever. "I just... I don't know. I just feel like I have to be at the clinic."

"Yeah, but you're only volounteering, right?" Troy asked her, and Gabriella nodded with a confused expression on her face, and Troy got a soft expression on his as he explained further; "I mean, you could just not volounteer today or something, and then you could go with me and the kids. It would be fun."

A smile played on Gabriella's lips while looking at the kids still eating cereal. They were so occupied that they didn't even hear their parents' conversation. Troy was right in a way. She wasn't obligated to be there, but she felt obligated to be there. It was weird in a way, and she felt like she was letting someone down if she didn't go, so she had to go.

She looked at Troy again and said; "You know I can't do that, as much as I want to." She poured herself a cup of coffee and took a sip, and then she dumped it in the zink immediately after. She had to be on her way soon. She rushed over to Troy and placed a gentle hand at the back of his neck and rested her forehead against his. "It's not that I don't wanna go with you. I really do, honey, and you know that. I just wanna help these people."

Troy nodded and offered her a little smile. He understood, and he was proud his wife wanted to help others that much. She smiled back and gave him light peck on the lips, and then she kissed each of the kids on the top of their head and rushed out of the kitchen, throwing a quick goodbye over her shoulder.

"Wow, and you thought she would never leave!" Troy tried being funny with his kids, but they just looked at him like he was crazy, and then they dug into their cereal again. "Nevermind."

**- BB -**

After Gabriella had finally left, and the kids had been done eating, Troy rushed them to the bathroom to brush their teeth and such. He brushed their hair as well and helped them get clothed. He wasn't that good with finding clothes for the girls, but he thought he'd managed to do it quite well.

Kyle was denim pants and a red hoodie, as that was Kyle's favorite colour. It had never been green or blue or anything, and if the other kids told him that red was a colour for girls, he stood up for himself and said that he liked red better, so he didn't care whether or not it was meant for girls. He probably didn't say it like that, though, he probably just said something along the lines of 'I like red'.

Troy had forced his youngest daughter into a light blue dress with penguins on it, and Alyssa had screamed bloody murder that she wanted on her pink dress with the unicorns, but that was unfortunately for Troy's ears in the wash, so Alyssa would have to settle for the penguin dress. Alyssa only had dresses and was a really girly girl, and all of her dresses had animals on them as well because she simply loved animals so much. Troy saw a future vetenarian in his little girl.

Shelby had been a lot easier to dress because she understood a little bit more, and he could reason with her better than the two little ones. Shelby got in a pair of purple leggings, a white skirt and a pink hoodie. She had picked it out herself because when Troy finally got to her, he was too stressed out to find her some proper clothes, as Alyssa was still screaming about her unicorn dress.

Now they were finally at the zoo, and Alyssa had stopped screaming about her unicorn dress. Troy was being pulled in a hundred different directions by the kids. Alyssa wanted to go see the horsies, perhaps there was a unicorn amongst them. Kyle wanted to go look at the tigers, and Shelby was begging to go see the giraffes first.

"Okay, listen to me kids." He said loud enough so the kids could hear him over their bickering at each other, demanding their attention. They needed to figure this out, they couldn't possibly start three places at once. When they finally stopped bickering and looked at their father, he continued; "This is what we do. I'm gonna look at a thing and tell you what colour it is, and the first who guesses what it is that I'm looking at decides where we go first. That means if Alyssa guesses it we go see the horsies first, and if Kyle guesses it we go see the tigers first, and if Shelby guesses it first we go see the giraffes. Everybody on board?" The kids nodded. "Ok, I'm seeing something red."

"Uh!" Alyssa raised her hand and started jumping up and down, thinking she had spotted what Troy was looking at. Troy nodded in her direction, and she pointed at some pink birds. "A flamingo."

"A flamingo is not red." Kyle argued, it being is favourite colour. "It's stupid pink."

"It's, too, red!" Alyssa shouted and stuck her tongue out at her older brother and stomped her foot into ground.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Kids!" Troy yelled and rushed over to them to break them apart, and then he smiled at his little girl to comfort her, and then he said; "The flamingos weren't the red I was going for, sweetie. I was looking for something different red, but good guess." He turned to Kyle and continued; "And Kyle, flamingos might not be red in your world, but right now you're trying to find what I'm looking at, so it's what's red in my mind, okay?"

They both nodded, feeling slightly ashamed. They carried on looking along with Shelby who had been totally unaffected by her siblings' little argument, she had been looking intense for what her father was talking about. She really wanted to go see the giraffes first, they were her favourite animal after all.

Then she spotted the only thing she thought was proper red, though it wasn't entirely red, but in her mind it was the only thing Troy could have meant. She pointed at it and said; "It's the parrot, right daddy? Or does it have to be red everywhere?"

"I was actually thinking about the parrot, so I guess we're going to see the giraffes first." He announced and took Kyle and Alyssa by their hands again, two kids who definitely did not look happy with that announcement. They hadn't thought as long as they were gonna be there all day, so Troy decided to lighten up their mood a little bit - no need to be sad on a day at the zoo. "And afterwards we'll go see the tigers because they are the closest to the giraffes, and then we'll go see the horsies after that. How does that sound?"

Alyssa squealed and hugged her father's leg, and Kyle was happy too. They began walking to the giraffes now that the two young ones had calmed down, and Shelby were already way ahead of them. She was practically running to get to the giraffes.

When Troy and the youngest kids finally got to the giraffes Shelby was already standing there, bouncing up and down in excitement while she pointed towards the giraffes.

"Look, daddy, there is a baby giraffe." Shelby told her father with bright shining eyes and happiness in her voice, and then she let the arm fall down to her side, and Troy saw that she was right. There was indeed a baby giraffe. "It's named Dotty."

"What a pretty name." Troy acknowledged, and then he bent down and picked Alyssa up to sit on his shoulders, so she'd get a better view of the animals. Alyssa whispered something in Troy's ear, and he had to hide a chuckle. "No, you can't ride the giraffes like a horsy, Alyssa."

"Giraffes are boring." Kyle said while leaning up against the fence, his fingers sticking through the holes. He was unimpressed, mainly because giraffes couldn't raw like tigers.

Shelby looked at Kyle with piercing angry eyes. "You are boring." She shot back, making Kyle run over to Troy and grab his leg, starting to cry.

"It's okay, Kyle, I'm sure Shelby didn't mean what she said. She just got upset with you because giraffes are her favourite animal. Just like you would be upset, if Shelby told you tigers were boring." Troy explained to his only son who wiped his tears away. Troy smiled and continued; "There you go."

"Why's giraffe her favourite animal?" Kyle questioned, looking up at his dad with big wide eyes. In his world tigers were the only cool animal.

"I don't know. You'll have to ask your sister, won't you?" Troy told his son with patience while bringing his youngest daughter down from his shoulders.

Kyle looked at Shelby with the same big eyes as he'd looked at his father with and asked; "Why?"

"'Cos they are yellow and brown, and I like those colours. Plus they have pretty eyes, and they are cute." Shelby explained to her littlebrother who made a face at the mention of cute. He was a boy who hated the word cute, especially being called cute by their mother. He wanted to be cool.

Alyssa tugged at her father's jeans leg in an attempt to get his attention. When he looked down she whined; "When are we gonna go see the horsies?"

Troy smiled and looked at Shelby and Kyle who were bickering about tigers and giraffes. He knew they probably wouldn't get to the horses untill late, especially with Shelby and Kyle being like that. He knew Shelby would think about her siblings, and what they wanted to see, but Kyle would refuse to leave the tigers once they first got there.

He knelt down to be on eye level with Alyssa. "Soon." He promised, but he was no where near sure about his words. He looked over at Shelby and Kyle again, and it looked like Kyle had surrendered and admitted that giraffes were cool as well as tigers. He looked at Alyssa again and smiled. "It all depends on Shel and Kyle." He stood up and called on the two kids. "Hey, Shelby and Kyle, get over here."

They both groaned and protested, but turned around nevertheless and began walking towards their father. They thought they'd be in trouble because they had been arguing, and they really didn't wanna get a lecture about arguing, and they didn't wanna leave the giraffes either.

"She started it." Kyle exclaimed when they reached Troy and pointed an accusing finger at Shelby, and she looked at her brother with wide eyes and mouth, like she was in complete shock that he would accuse her of that.

She looked at Troy with those puppy eyes that he couldn't resist and shook her head, so he knew that she definitely wasn't the one who started it. Kyle had been the one who kept ranting about tigers anyway.

Troy nodded at her, letting her know that he knew, but he hadn't called on them for that. "Your sister wants to go see the horsies soon, so if we could go to the tigers now?" He proposed to them, and Kyle quickly got all excited, but Shelby looked back over her shoulder at the giraffes with a sad expression in her eyes, but when she looked back at Troy again she nodded her pretty little head. "Good, let's go then."

He grabbed Alyssa's hand and Kyle's, and then they proceeded towards the tigers. This time Kyle was the fastest, almost dragging Troy and Alyssa with him, and Alyssa's legs were far too small to go that fast, so Troy had to slow Kyle down a little bit.

Shelby was a few feet behind her family, walking while looking down at the ground, deep in thought. The thrill of having seen the giraffes was already over, and now she started wondering about things. Like why their mother never came along on outings like this? Was it Shelby's own fault? Didn't her mother like her?

She had often wondered why she didn't look like her mother like Kyle and Alyssa did. Kyle had his mother's eyes and skin tone, and the rest of him was all Troy, but at least he looked like their mother a little bit. Alyssa was almost a spitten image of their mother, except for her hair colour. She had Troy's hair colour. Shelby didn't look anything like Gabriella, not even a freckle resembled her, and maybe that was why her mother didn't like her, or maybe that was why she didn't feel as connected to her as Kyle and Alyssa?

How could she possibly not look anything like her own mother? Sure, she had brown eyes, but they didn't sparkle like Gabriella's. Her skin wasn't like Gabriella's, and neither was her hair. It was really messing her up because she couldn't understand it. She was only 6 years old, and she didn't understand about genes or anything. She just knew her mother felt more connected to Kyle and Alyssa, but maybe that was because she was with Troy, and he was their father? He wasn't Shelby's because she didn't even know hers.

They were looking at the tigers now, and Troy was entertaining Kyle and Alyssa and everything while they were looking at them, but Shelby was being quiet, thinking about things a kid her age shouldn't even wonder about. She wasn't excited about the zoo anymore.

She was confused. She was so close with Troy who wasn't even her father, but her real mother she wasn't as close with, and shouldn't it be the other way around? She could tell Troy anything, and she was a total daddy's girl - that was what she called him after all - and they had so much fun together, but why wasn't it like that with her mother? Why did she feel so disconnected.

She knew she shouldn't be thinking these things, seeing as she could just as well look like a grandmother or even her father. She just felt off and it was weird. She was so wrapped up in these thoughts that she hadn't even noticed she was standing there by tigers all alone, but she was pulled out of her thoughts when Troy grabbed her hand and told her they were going to the horses now.

Shelby smiled and went with her father over to the horses, and it was now Alyssa's time to be excited about the animal they were looking at. She even asked a zoo keeper if she could get to ride one of the horses, but you couldn't ride the horses untill 2, so they would have to wait a while, and that was when they decided to go to one of the playgrounds nearby the horses.

"I wanna see if I'm a kangaroo." Alyssa cheered when they reached a field of grass by the playground and ran towards it. There was a place on the playground where there were some wooden walls lined up with animals on, and then you were supposed to see how far you could jump, and then you'd know which animal you were.

"No way, you are a stupid little bunny." Kyle teased her just for fun, and then he ran with her. In his mind he was racing her, but he didn't say it out loud incase she beat him. Alyssa was a fast runner after all.

Troy watched his two kids trying to jump as far as a kangaroo on the playground while chuckling a little bit, and then he sat down on the grass, keeping an eye on them to make sure they behaved themselves and didn't get hurt. If they had as much as a scratch on them when they got home, Gabriella would have a fit, and then he wouldn't wanna be himself.

He was a bit surprised when he saw that Shelby sat down next to him, instead of running towards the playground with her siblings to jump like a kangaroo. He was even more surprised when she was wearing a melancholy expression on her face. She was usually this happy girl, and that was partly why he was so attached to her.

"What's the matter, Shelbel?" He questioned his sad little daughter and pulled her in for a hug, stroking her hair with one of his hands. "You know you can tell me anything. I'm not just your dad, you know."

She looked at Troy with a sad smile playing on her lips. She could tell him anything, yes. "I just... don't get why I don't look anything like mom." She revealed to him, and he nodded while paying attention to what she said. It seemed important to her, and he was there. "I know I have a father too, though I don't really know him, and maybe I look like him, but aren't you supposed to look a little bit like both your parents?"

Troy looked at his daughter and thought that she was right. She looked nothing like Gabriella. Shelby had brown eyes, but they weren't like Gabriella's. Shelby's eyes were more chocolate brown, and Gabriella where just dark brown and had that sparkle. Shelby's were more sad in that area. Her hair wasn't brunette either, it was more strawberry blonde or something like that. He had never really thought about it before, but Shelby really didn't look anything like Gabriella.

He wasn't about to add to Shelby's sadness, so he thought long and hard about what to say before he spoke; "You're probably right, you don't look that much like her, but that doesn't make her love you any less." He kissed her forehead and locked eyes with her, and he could see that what he had said helped a little bit, and he decided to drag it all the way home and give her some resemblence to her mother. "Maybe you don't look like your mother that much, but you're small just like her, and that's looking like her too."

"You think so?" Shelby questioned with her big eyes staring into Troy's more intense than before, and when he nodded she cracked a smile and snuggled up closer to him. "Thanks, daddy. You're the best."

Troy smiled at her sweet words, and then he lowered his head to her ear and whispered; "And don't tell your mother this, but I think you're way prettier."

"But why isn't she here?" Shelby wanted to know, acting almost like she hadn't heard what Troy had just told. "It's because she doesn't like me, isn't it?"

"Why would you even say that, Shelby? You mother loves you very much, you should know that." He tried to explain to her, but she got free from his arms and stood up, and then she started to walk away from him. He quickly got up and walked after her, stopping her by placing his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, hey, hey. Shel, listen to me here. Your mother is at work, and that's the only reason she isn't here. She would have loved to spend the day with you because she loves you very, very much just like me, do you hear me?"

He made her turn around and look into his eyes, and she nodded her head and offered him a small half-hearted smile, but he decided to take it. It was the best she could give right now.

He wiped the tears that had started to form in her eyes away with his fingers, and then he wrapped his arms around her for another hug, and when they pulled apart she smiled at him again, and this time it seemed like she meant it more. He was glad, but he could tell she was still sad. He knew what every move she made, every expression on her face and almost everything else meant, so her knew that she was sad even if she was smiling at him.

"Hey, I know that look." Troy told her as he held her away from him with stretched arms, so he could look at her properly. "You're craving some strawberry yoghurt to cheer you up, aren't you?"

Shelby nodded. Troy just knew it, he was never wrong when it came to Shelby. When he had met Gabriella on one of the first days of college, and he learned that she had Shelby, it had just been a huge plus for him when he got to know the both of them, and he had quickly learned that the adorable little Shelby loved anything strawberry.

"Okay, then go get Kyle and Alyssa and tell them that we're going to get some yoghurt. I'll wait right here." Troy gave her the instructions, and then she sped as fast as she could to the playground to collect her siblings, so they could go and get some yoghurt.

Troy watched as she ran, and he felt deep in his heart that he would go anywhere with her. It had no importance that he wasn't her biological father or had any blood relations with her. He was her real father where it mattered: in his heart. No matter what would ever happen she would always have him. He would be there for her always, through thick and thin. She was his little angel and everything, but it did worry him how she felt about Gabriella.

It also worried him a great deal that now she had put thoughts into his head. Now he started to wonder about a lot of things. Who was Shelby's dad? What did he look like? Did Shelby look like him? Did that have anything to do with her not looking like Gabriella. Why didn't she look like Gabriella? He decided to brush the whole subject off and figured, she might start to look like Gabriella later on. You never knew.

Shelby came back quickly, hand in hand with Alyssa and Kyle. They almost couldn't keep up, but Shelby was just that into getting her strawberry yoghurt. So Troy took them to buy some yoghurt. Shelby got her strawberry, Kyle got peach, and Alyssa got natural because she didn't like the fruit lumps.

They had fun the rest of the day, watching all the animals. Shelby had forgotten all about her Gabriella issues, and Troy had forgotten about the thoughts Shelby had provoked him to have. They just had fun and to make sure Shelby didn't go back to being sad, Troy made sure that their last stop of the day was the giraffes again.

**-BB-**

That day turned out to be quite the hectic day. It was like everybody had decided to go to the free clinic on the exact same day, and there wasn't much Gabriella could do to actually help the doctors. Sure she volounteered and helped out and all that, but she was no doctor and could only do so much.

It got a bit more calm as the hours proceeded, and when it stopped being as stressful as in the morning Gabriella's mind went to Troy and the kids. She wished she could have been at the zoo with them, but it was as she had explained to Troy many times. She felt obligated to go. She felt she owed it somehow.

Maybe it was the secrets from her past? Secrets she had hid from Troy. It wasn't that what she had done was anything bad, but she had kept it from Troy, and she still had fears about her past coming back to haunt her. Would she be able to keep what she had achieved? Somehow she believed doing good work would keep the bad away.

She didn't wanna think about it. She stared at watch hanging on the wall in the waiting room at clinic, and she saw that she only had another half an hour left at the clinic before she could go home. She couldn't wait untill she could go home and see her kids again.

She got ripped out of her thought when someone placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder and saw one of the doctors smiling at her. His name was Sebastian Tate, and he was the youngest of the doctor there. She smiled back.

"Hey, what's up, Dr. Tate?" Gabriella questioned, wondering what she could do to help out. She genuinly wanted to help, her subconscious just made her work even harder at helping others. "You need some help with something?"

"Yeah, Gabby. I've got to give this young boy a shot, but he is being completely hysterical, and I was wondering if you by any chance occupy him while I give him the shot?" Sebastian requested as Gabriella turned fully around, and then he took one of the lollipops he would give to kids after exams out of his pocket to tempt Gabriella. "I'll give you a lollipop."

Gabriella pushed the lollipop away. "I don't need a lollipop. I would love to help." She said with a giggle, and then followed Sebastian into the examination room where she knelt before the crying boy. "Hey, what's your name?"

"D-Daniel." The boy, whose named was Daniel, managed to stutter through his many tears. Gabriella reached out a hand and dried away his tears with her fingers.

"Wow, that's a pretty name." Gabriella smiled at the little boy, and he smiled back at the compliment. She took his hand in hers and began stroking it with her thumb while trying to calm him further down. "You know what I think is cool?" The boy shook his head and hickupped. "I think bionicles are cool, and I happen to have some in my pockets. Do you wanna see?"

The boy nodded, and as Gabriella dug into her pocket for the bionicles she winked at Sebastian to let him know to get ready to give the boy the shot. She pulled out a red and a blue bionicle and handed the blue to Daniel.

"Do you like bionicles?" Gabriella asked as Sebastian got the shot ready, and Daniel nodded a bit shy and yet excited. "Me too. Which one is your favourite?" Daniel held up the blue one in his hand to tell Gabriella that the blue one was his favourite. "That's a good one. But I don't remember what his powers are. Can you help me, Daniel?"

Daniel nodded his head eagerly and was so wrapped up in Gabriella talking to him, about to explain the powers of the blue bionicle that he didn't even notice that Sebastian was now giving him his shot. Daniel had been so afraid that the needle would hurt, but Gabriella had occupied his mind, so he hadn't noticed getting the shot at all.

"The blue bionicle is the bionicle of water." Daniel explained to Gabriella with big excited eyes, waving his hands all over the place and making WOOOSH noises to illustrate water to her. He pointed at the red bionicle in Gabriella's hand and smiled. "That's the bionicle of fire."

"That's so exciting, Daniel, and you know what?" Gabriella asked him with a smile and let go of his hand. Daniel shook his head, and Gabriella continued; "You're done now. All better."

The little boy's mouth formed an 'O', and he looked up at Sebastian with wide eyes, completely surprised and shocked that it was over because he hadn't felt anything. Sebastian nodded to confirm, and Daniel jumped up and gave Gabriella a hug. He was that happy to get out of there.

"And you know what more?" Gabriella asked as Daniel let go of her. He shook his head again, and then she handed the red bionicle to him as well, so he had both of them now. He looked down at the toys in his hand and up at Gabriella, confused. "You can have these because you've been such a good boy."

"Now let's go see if your mother is ready to take you home, Daniel." Sebastian told the little boy and placed a hand on his back, letting him out of the examination room. Before he exited to room completely he looked over his shoulder and said to Gabriella; "You're done now, too, Gabriella. You may go home now."

Sebastian and Daniel had now gone out of the room, and Gabriella was excited to finally being able to go home to Troy and the kids. She might be home before them, but that was just even better. She could cook for them then and prepare to get all cosy with them. There was no better feeling.

The day had begun so stressful, and she had been out of it when she left the house this morning. She almost couldn't get properly ready or anything, and she even lost her track on the way to work - her kids had been in her mind. She wanted to be there for them, but she wanted to help people too. It was hard being this torn.

But now the day was all over for her, and she could go home to relax. She was already making plans for what to make for dinner, and what movie to pop in to watch with the kids as she went into the reception to gather her things. She only had a coat to put on and a bag to carry over her shoulder, and then she would be all set.

She was thinking indian, and then she put on her coat while smiling to herself, knowing that both Shelby and Troy absolutely loved indian food, and Kyle and Alyssa were beginning to have a taste for it as well. She had also thought that they should put on The Emperor's New Groove later - the kids loved that movie, and she found it hilarious as well.

She couldn't wait to have a perfect family night with her husband and kids. She loved her family, and she had been convinced ever since meeting Troy that nothing could ever mess things up. She was scared they could, yes, but this was her family, and if something was supposed to ruin it, wouldn't it have already? Or was Gabriella just being silly?

She threw her bag over the shoulder, and then she dug her hand into it, getting out her cell to text Troy.

_On my way home. Love you and the kids, see you soon._

The bell on the door rang, and Gabriella put the cell phone back into her bag, and then she searched for her keys in there. She found them and got them out, and then she closed the bag, all ready to leave.

"Gabriella?" Gabriella turned around to see who was talking to her, and when she saw who it was she let out a loud gasp. "I want my baby back."

**-BB-**

_There you have it. The end of chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I hope you'll leave me a review. I might not update it right away because I have a bunch of other stuff in works, but I will eventually. I don't know exactly when, but I thought it was about to get back in the game after some personal struggles and just post everything I've been working on so far. Hope you enjoy, thanks :)._

_**Laters, AK-tutti :D**_


	2. Chapter 2

_So here I am again after an extreme long delay . I have a ton of stories in the works so I try to even out my working time, plus I've had a bit of a writer's block . I haven't written anything in over 5 months, but hopefully I'll get somewhere now . Before I continue with this chapter I wanted to address the reviews I got . The one saying this was stupid and clearly a Troyella about their perfect, happy life . I know it may seem that way, but trust me this is definitely a Troypay . And to the other, you guessed right . That's all I'm gonna say ;) . Oh, and in the previous chapter I wrote My Baby as the title which it isn't . That was just the working title . Anyways, on with the story :) ._

_**Disclaimer;** After all this time I still do not own High School Musical :)_

**Baby Back**

**Chapter 2.**

_"Gabriella?" Gabriella turned around to see who was talking to her, and when she saw who it was she let out a loud gasp. "I want my baby back."_

Gabriella had never thought she would see that particular person again. She had never thought her past would catch up with her. She had thought her best friend from High School would have been dead by now, but there she stood right in front of Gabriella.

"What are you doing here?" Gabriella managed to overcome her shock and ask. She was terrified. This was the last person she wanted to see, and she had no idea how she would attempt to deal with it. "You have no right to be here! This is where I work."

"I told you, Gabs. I want my baby back." Her former friend repeated, taking a step closer to Gabriella who stood still as if paralyzed by the woman's words.

Gabriella quietly digested the words she was told and slowly regained her composure, and with it came her will to fight back. She knew what kind of person the woman was so her guards were up. She had no right to say these things to Gabriella or be there for that matter.

"No! She's my baby, not yours. You begged me to take her, remember?" Gabriella argued, "You aren't fit to be a parent so either way I would have made sure you didn't get to keep her."

Those words seemed to hit the woman hard. "But I've changed."

"You haven't changed one bit. You still look as destroyed as you did back then." Gabriella wasn't buying what her former friend was saying, and she wouldn't let the woman take what was rightfully hers no matter what excuses were put on table. "Do you really think I would let you take her? Do you really think I would let her grow up in your world? A world where there wouldn't be money for food because you've wasted them all on cocain or booze? I will never let you take her! She's not yours."

"People change, Gabs." The woman tried, but Gabriella shook her head in a mix of disbelief and anger. "I've been clean and sober for two years. I have changed so you're wrong. Not just about that 'cos she is mine. I gave birth to her, remember? You were there."

Gabriella let out a contemptuous chuckle and retorted; "Just because you gave birth to her, does not make her yours!"

"Gabriella, I get that you're mad at me for what I did, but I wasn't ready then to be a parent. I had to give her away." The woman explained in an unsuccesful attempt to soften Gabriella. "I'm ready now."

"Being a parent is not right, it's a privilege. Anyone can become a parent these day, but being a real mother is something you earn." Gabriella said, her voice bored and cold. She didn't wish to be there. She had texted Troy that she was on her way, and she'd rather be home right now than being there arguing with her past. "You gave her to me, remember? You asked me to take care of her, and I've spent the past six years earning the privilege of motherhood. She's my daughter, and you can't take her away."

In Gabriella's mind, that was the end of the conversation. She held tightly on to her things and brushed past her former friend, avoiding the gaze she knew was upon her. She was about to open the door and leave, when the woman spoke behind her.

"I may have given her to you, Gabriella, and asked you to take care of her because I wasn't able to." The woman spoke, Gabriella's back still turned on her. "But jog my memory a little. Was the arrangement ever made official?"

The words hit Gabriella like a ton of bricks because she knew what her former friend meant by that, and Gabriella couldn't deny being scared now. The words replayed in her head a couple of times before she finally turned down the door knob to leave.

She had to hurry home. She had to act fast if she wanted to keep everything she loved. She was scared by the words she had just been told, and they were hanging over her like a threat, making her realize that there was no time to waste.

As Gabriella ran out of the clinic to get to her car and drive home, the woman yelled after her. "She will be mine again, Gabriella! Shelby, she will be mine again!"

**-BB-**

When Gabriella opened the door to the home of her family, she felt beside herself after the events of the day. She knew it was too late to do anything about it today, but she would have to do something first thing in the morning to prevent that awful woman to take her daughter away from her.

She closed the front door behind her and made the familiar way into the kitchen where Troy was sitting alone, probably waiting for her to get home. It had taken longer than she'd said it would, and he did seem worried.

"Hi." Gabriella said and occupied the chair by the table next to her husband. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to take that long, but something happened when I was about to leave that I had to deal with."

Troy didn't say anything, instead he got up from his chair and walked over to the kitchen counter where he grabbed a plate of food. He walked back to the table and placed the plate in front of Gabriella.

She could tell he was mad at her for being later than she'd initially led on because it clinked like it was about to break, but it didn't. She made eye contact with him to sort of let him know that she really was sorry, and he just wore that disappointed look on his face. She worked too much in his opinion.

"I put the kids to sleep. They'd hoped to say goodnight to their mother, but they couldn't stay up forever." Troy said as Gabriella grabbed a fork and dug it into her food. She could tell by his tone that she had read his face correctly, and as she was about to eat the first forkful of food he had another comment to make; "It's cold by the way, the food."

She could tell he was right as she begun chewing her food. She had to smooth things out so that her husband would quit being upset with her because it wasn't her fault. It was that awful woman who had come into the clinic and wanted to steal Shelby away.

"Troy, I honestly tried to get home as fast as possible, but this woman came into clinic as I was about to leave, and she started making all these horrible accusations. I tried to get away, but she kept holding me up." Gabriella explained, leaving out some very important details.

She had never told Troy that Shelby wasn't hers, and he would surely hate her if he found out that she had lied to him their entire relationship. She couldn't lose Troy, and she definitely couldn't lose Shelby. Her family meant everything to her.

Troy seemed to accept her words, and his expression softened. "I have some news, Gabriella." He revealed, and then Gabriella knew she had been forgiven because he was becoming talkative again. She put down her fork and pushed away her plate to give him her full attention. He deserved that. "I got a call from my agent while I was at the zoo with the kids." He paused for dramatic effect, and Gabriella was at the edge of her seat. "I've been drafted."

"You've been drafted, what does that mean?" Gabriella asked, although she had her suspicions with her husband sitting across from her with a smile on his face, but she wasn't entirely sure as she didn't understand basketball talk.

"I've been drafted to play in the NBA, honey." Barely had that announcement left his lips when Gabriella let out an excited squeal, forgetting about her own troubles for a short moment. "I finally made it."

"Congratulations, honey." Gabriella cheered, throwing her arms around her husband. "I knew you'd make it eventually. I could just feel it."

Troy wore his signature grin as she let go of him again, the one that had made Gabriella fall in love with him. "What do you say we find a way to celebrate it tonight?"

Gabriella face fell as she remembered the previous events of the day. "I would love to, but I have to go to bed right now. I have to get up extremely early tomorrow. I'm sorry, honey."

"Let me guess, work?" Troy questioned as he slowly let disappointment access his features. It was always about her job as a pre-school teacher or her work at the clinic, and it irritated him.

This was supposed to be a wonderful evening. Troy had been drafted to play in the NBA, and he would be starting practice on monday, and that would take up a lot of his time. Where would that leave their kids with Gabriella working all the time? He refused to give up his dream just so she could feel good about herself for doing volunteer work.

He deserved to do what he loved as well as her. He loved his kids, but he was always taking care of them while Gabriella did whatever she did. Enough was enough.

"Kind of. It's not exactly work, but I have to take care of some things." She explained, and Troy looked away to hide the hurt in his eyes. It was always the same song.

Gabriella rose from her seat, picked up her plate and fork, and then she went over to the sink to wash them. She dried them up and put them back in their rightful places, and when she turned around Troy was still sitting there, making her feel bad with how disappointed he looked, but she had to disappoint him a little so that they could live happily ever after without someone trying to steal their kid.

"I'm really happy for you, Troy, and I'm sorry I don't have time to celebrate the way you want to." Gabriella said before she walked out of the kitchen to go to bed so she could wake up early the next day and fight evil.

**-BB-**

Gabriella woke up the next morning around 7 A.M when she subconsciously heard her phone buzzing from the nightstand. Her phone was on silent, and she just missed the call by a second. It was from an unknown number.

She thanked whoever it was for waking her because she had to get up early anyway. She had things to do so she could prevent her former friend from stealing away her daughter.

They had a family friend who was a lawyer, and she hoped she could get him to help her today even though it was sunday. Usually he was Troy's lawyer because of the profession her husband was in. He would need a lawyer sooner or later.

She straightened out the covers on her side of the bed so it looked like she hadn't slept in it, and she was glad to see that Troy had slept next to her that night even though he was upset with her. It meant a lot that he hadn't opted for the couch instead because she knew he somehow understood then.

She went into the bathroom connected to her and Troy's bedroom where she brushed her teeth and put her hair up in a high ponytail. She did her makeup, and when she thought she looked somewhat presentable she went back into their bedroom to find some clothes.

She had barely put on a pastel green dress and grey cardigan when her phone started buzzing again. It was an unknown number so Gabriella assumed it was the same person who had tried calling before. Without giving it much thought, Gabriella pressed the green button and answered the phone.

"Hello!?"

"_Gabriella."_ The voice of the person calling said, and Gabriella quickly recognised that it belonged to her former friend who had stopped by the clinic last night. Panic struck again. _"You left rather quickly last night so I just wanted to say that I'm not giving up. I'm gonna get my baby back!"_

"I said it last night, and I'm gonna say it again." Gabriella said, raising her voice at the woman on the line which caused Troy to wake up. "She's not yours, and you're not gonna get her back, do you hear me?"

"_I thought we went over this last night as well, but I'd gladly go over it again..."_ The woman paused, and Gabriella huffed on her end of the line as she couldn't believe the nerve on that woman. _"... She isn't yours legally, and there are ways to get her back with me, but do you really want to go down that road, Gabby?"_

"Stop this game right now!" Gabriella yelled, and behind her Troy had gotten out bed and had begun getting dressed silently. "Stay away from me, stay away from my family, and stop calling here. Goodbye!"

She hung up the phone and threw it on the bed, and then she noticed that Troy was awake and now fully dressed. She tried to muster a smile, but it came across half-heartedly.

"What was that about?" Troy wanted to know, clearly confused by the odd conversation his wife had just had on the phone with an unknown person.

"Troy, I have to tell you something." Gabriella said with a sigh and sat down on the bed. Troy soon followed her example and sat down next to her. "I have some things I need to do today, and they're very important. When I'm gone, a woman might stop by here. Her name is Sharpay Evans, and she's gonna try to fill you with a bunch of lies about our family and about Shelby, but she's a bad person, and I don't want you to believe a word she says. I want you to send her away because she can't be trusted. She wants to take Shelby away from us, but whatever she says I want you to know that Shelby is mine. No matter what she says it's a lie, okay?"

Troy tried to digest the information he had been given, and it hit him the way it had hit Gabriella. Someone wanted to tear their family apart, and he wasn't gonna let them. He believed his wife's words as she had never lied to him before, why should now be any different?

He hadn't met this Sharpay Evans person, but he already disliked her because she wanted to take their daughter. He wouldn't let her succeed at that. He was gonna do as his wife had said and send her away, preferably slamming the door in her face in the process.

What kind of person would do something like that? And to someone as good and kind as his wife? Shelby was theirs, and nobody was gonna take her away. Especially not this Sharpay person. Even the name sounded evil.

"She was the one who held you up last night, right?" Troy asked, and Gabriella nodded as a reply. He hated this woman already, and he would obey his wife's wishes. "Okay, I'll do as you want. If she should stop by, I'll send her away. I can't believe that someone would try and do something like that to us."

"Neither can I." Gabriella said, avoiding Troy's eyes. She was sitting there, practically lying straight to his face. Of course she'd been lying to him about Shelby ever since they met, but never that directly. "But unfortunately this world has more bad people than good, but no matter what we have to hold on to our family."

Troy never got to utter his words of agreement for their kids had taken the word family as the cue to run into their parents' bedroom. They were happy and squealing, jumping onto the bed. They were excited because they thought both their parents would be home the entire day, and they could play with them all day.

"Mommy, daddy! Wanna play with us?" Kyle squealed, still jumping on the bed, hand in hand with his younger sister, Alyssa. "We wanna play hide and seek!"

"Shelby, Alyssa and Kyle, Mommy can't play with us today. She has things to do, but she'll be home as soon as she can, okay?" Troy said, watching sad, little expressions appears on his kids' faces. They jumped off the bed and ran out of the room, all of them sad. Troy could tell that his wife's heart broke a little in that moment. "Don't worry, honey. I'll make them feel better. Just do what you gotta do and come home as soon as possible."

Gabriella nodded and kissed his lips, a small tear in the corner of her eye. She rose from the bed, grabbed her phone and hurried downstairs to grab the rest of her things and eventually leave.

After sitting on the bed alone for a couple of minutes, Troy heard the front door open and close, and he guessed that Gabriella had left so he should probably go find their kids. They had to be somewhere in the house.

Troy followed his wife example and got up from the bed. He hurried out of the bedroom and began looking for his kids, whom he quickly discovered weren't upstairs so he walked downstairs to search the rooms they had down there. It took awhile, but he found them sitting on each a chair in the kitchen, probably waiting for breakfast.

"Hey kids." Troy smiled at them as he entered the kitchen, and he sat down on one of the two remaining chairs. "I know you're probably upset about mom having to do stuff today, but what she wants to do the most is stay home with you guys all the time. She loves you, okay?"

"We know, daddy." Shelby said, her brown eyes shining with love. She really was daddy's girl.

Kyle and Alyssa seemed to understand it too, though not in the aspect as Shelby did. They were only 3 and 2 years old after all so they didn't understand as much as their older sister did.

"I'm hungry, dad!" Kyle exclaimed from his seat by the table. That little guy had really inherited his father's appetite, and he was also the spitting image of his father. Except for the eyes, he had his mother's eyes.

With a chuckle Troy got up from his seat and went to the cabinets to get out some bowls for the kids. He also grabbed some spoons from one of the drawers, and then he walked back to the table and placed a bowl and a spoon in front of each child, and he also placed a set by his own seat.

He went over to another cabinet and got out three kinds of cereal; Honey Nut Cheerios (Shelby's favorite), Rice Krispies (Kyle and Troy's favorite), and Fruit Loops (Alyssa's favorite). He got some milk from the fridge and went back to the table with it, and then he poured cereal and milk into Kyle and Alyssa's bowls because they hadn't learned to do it themselves yet, and of course he poured some into his own as well.

Shelby grabbed the Honey Nut Cheerios and poured some into her bowl, and then she poured some milk over them and began eating. Shelby loved the taste of honey. She loved it in warm milk and tea, she loved it on bread, she loved that honey glazed ham her mother made sometimes, and of course she loved her Honey Nut Cheerios.

Troy and the kids sat and ate in silence. Troy was thankful that Kyle and Alyssa weren't arguing that morning because of Kyle being the oldest, and he always rubbed in Alyssa's face. He was thankful that he didn't have to intervene that morning. His mind kept circling around Gabriella's word about this horrible person who wanted to steal their Shelby.

Shelby was a total daddy's girl, and Troy could try and deny it all he wanted, but she had him wrapped around her little finger. She could make him do anything she wanted, but she had been raised right and therefore never took advantage of it, and that was one of the many reasons why Troy couldn't lose his oldest daughter.

He couldn't understand the woman's agenda, though. Why would she suddenly come after them like that and want to take their daughter from them? Was she someone from Gabriella's past who wanted to see his wife hurt? Of course evil didn't always have an explanation, and Troy probably wouldn't understand how this Sharpay person's mind worked no matter how hard he tried. Thank God.

Troy had nearly finished his bowl of cereal when he heard the doorbell go off. He pushed his bowl away and got up from the table to leave the kitchen and go open the door, leaving his kids to finish their breakfast alone. He just hoped that Kyle wouldn't start something while they were alone in the kitchen.

When Troy stepped into the hallway and finally stood by the front door, he hesitated a little before he turned down the knob and opened the door. It wasn't even eight in the morning on a sunday so it wasn't in the best of moods that he opened the door.

On the other side of the door stood a woman with blonde hair and brown eyes that were kind of similar to those Shelby had. She was also around the same height as Gabriella which meant that she wasn't that tall. She had a determined look featuring her face, and that definitely meant that this wasn't a sunday visit.

"Hi." The woman said without smiling or trying to seem friendly. Troy had guessed right, she was determined. "This wouldn't happen to be where Gabriella Montez lives, would it?"

"Her name is Gabriella Bolton now, but yeah, she lives here." Troy confirmed, squinting his eyes to give this woman a suspicious look-over. "Why do you ask?"

"My name is Sharpay Evans, and I..." The woman, now confirmed to be this Sharpay person Gabriella had spoken of, trailed off, but was harshly interrupted by Troy.

"Goodbye!"

Sharpay, who had been clean and sober for two years and avoided jail for three years, was a perceptive person when not high or drunk so she quickly picked up on the situation, putting two and two together. Gabriella had told him something, but probably not the whole truth.

"I guess Gabby has told you about me?" Sharpay said, showing no indication of leaving anytime soon, but stepped closer to the door instead so she could look inside and talk to Gabriella's husband at the same time, without him finding out that she was peeking inside.

"Yeah, she did. I can't believe how you can be so cruel and try to seperate a child from her own mother." Troy said while trying to keep his voice down so his kids wouldn't hear him talking to this woman, but he wasn't that succesful because the tone of his voice matched how upset he was feeling. "How dare you!?"

"I can tell you're upset, but I'm not trying to seperate a child from her _own_ mother." Sharpay succesfully remained her composure where Troy had failed, and she kept speaking calmly to him. "Shelby is mine, and I want her back. That's all I want."

Troy huffed upon hearing those words. "Yeah, Gabriella warned me that you would tell lies like that in an attempt to steal away our child, but you're not going to. You're an evil, vindictive person, and in my experience those never win."

"Gabriella hasn't told you the entire story, huh?" Sharpay acknowledged while ignoring the fact that Troy had just insulted her. She would get nowhere with arguing with this guy, it would only prolong her mission of getting back her daughter, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Troy was about to open his mouth and attempt some sort of retort to that statement when someone spoke behind him. "Daddy, what's going on?"

Sharpay could see the girl standing behind Troy. She had strawberry blonde hair which was Sharpay's natural hair color when unbleached. She had brown eyes like Sharpay's. Her nose was a small, soft looking one when Sharpay's was more characteristic. If that was Shelby then she probably had her father's nose, not that Sharpay remembered what he looked like. She had been high. The rest of the little girl looked an awful lot like Sharpay had at that age.

Troy looked over his shoulder and saw Shelby standing there. He could tell that she had just walked in there and hadn't heard anything because if she had she'd look upset now, and she didn't. Troy counted his blessings for that.

"Shelby, sweetie, would you please go back into the kitchen to your brother and sister again?" Troy asked his little girl who without a sound slogged back into the kitchen, and when she was out of sight Troy faced Sharpay again. "Gabriella has told me everything. She wouldn't lie to me. The only thing I don't get is why you would do something so cruel? Why would you come here and lie like that? Why would you want to seperate an innocent little girl from her family. I don't know what you have against Gabriella, but your vendetta ends here. You're not taking away our daughter so you're gonna have to find a way to get over your grudge."

Sharpay had tears in her eyes, and for minute Troy had thought he had gotten through to her, but then she spoke. "That was Shelby? She is so beautiful!"

"Don't ignore my words." Troy said, avoiding Sharpay's question although he knew it had been retorical. He didn't wanna address it, he just wanted this cruel woman to leave. "Get over whatever it is you have against my wife. You're not getting our daughter, and you need to keep away from our family."

Sharpay shook her head at Troy and his naivity as he had just unknowingly confirmed that Gabriella hadn't told him the entire story. "Shelby isn't your daughter, and she certainly isn't Gabriella's."

She took a step back as she would be leaving in minute, but not before she had said the things she needed to say. She could tell that Troy became more and more irritated with her, but at the same time he seemed confused because he could tell that she knew something she was yet to reveal.

"Her middlename is Melody, did you know that?" Sharpay questioned, confusing Troy even more. How did she know that, he wondered. "I gave her that name. I also gave her the name Shelby, and if you think her last name is Montez you'd be wrong."

"More lies." Troy said, not wanting to believe Sharpay's words. He refused to believe what she was implying. She had to be lying, just like Gabriella had said she would be. "I want you to leave now!"

"Maybe I'm not the one lying, Bolton, did you ever think of that?" Sharpay ignored Troy's request because she wanted him to know the truth. She wanted him to know that Shelby was rightfully hers, and that Gabriella was the one lying. If she succeeded it would only better her chances of getting her baby back. "Say, Bolton... Have you ever seen Shelby's birth certificate?"

Sharpay saw the expression on Troy's face change, and she knew the seed had been succesfully planted, and then she turned around on her heel and walked away, satisfied with her work.

**-BB-**

"Bryan, thank you for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice." Gabriella said as she sat down at the table in one of the conference rooms at Bryan's law firm while offering him an appreciative smile. "I know you'd rather be at home enoying your sunday with your wife and kids."

"That's okay, Gabby. Troy is a great friend as well as my client, and I'd gladly help his family." Bryan said, sitting down at the table as well with two cups of coffee in his hands. He pushed one of the cups over to Gabriella which she gladly accepted. "Why don't you tell me what this is about again?"

Gabriella took a sip of her coffee while she mentally prepared herself to tell the long and complicated story of Shelby to Bryan, hoping that there would be some sort of client/lawyer confidentiality. She didn't want Troy to find out that she had been lying to him all the years they had been together.

"You probably know that Troy and I have two kids, Kyle and Alyssa, together, but that I also had a one year old daughter, Shelby, when we met?" Gabriella began her long, confusing explanation, and Bryan nodded his head to let her know that he knew the story of their family, and then she continued; "The thing is that I lied to Troy back then. I didn't have Shelby when I was in High School."

"So when did you have her?" Bryan questioned and took a sip of his coffee, allowing the caffeine to wake him up. It was pretty early for a sunday morning, but he didn't mind. He liked Gabriella.

Gabriella sighed. "I know Troy is your friend, but you have to promise me that this stays between us. Do I have your word?" Gabriella paused to wait for a reply, and Bryan let out an 'hmm' sound as a yes, and then she continued her tale; "The thing is that Shelby isn't my biological daughter. My best friend in High School was a girl named Sharpay, and she was a wild child. She got into drugs and alcohol, and I tried to help her out of it, but she was beyond reach. She got pregnant while high, and she actually managed to stay somewhat clean throughout her pregnancy, with my help of course. Sharpay knew she wasn't fit to take care of a child in the state she was in, and she begged me to take care of her and be the child's mother, and I accepted."

"So what's the problem?" Bryan asked while processing Gabriella's words. He had definitely not seen Shelby not being Gabriella's biological daughter coming, but so far he didn't get why she needed legal advice. "Why do you need a lawyer?"

"Because I never officially adopted Shelby, I just took her to me." Gabriella revealed, and the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place for Bryan. He was beginning to understand, and thereby Gabriella's anguish became more apparent. "I was suppose to adopt her, but Sharpay relapsed. She got more addicted to the drugs and alcohol than she was before, and she eventually wound up in jail, and then I figured I'd never see her again. Without an official adoption I just accepted Shelby as mine, and then I met Troy, and I didn't tell him she wasn't mine. I fell in love, and we got married and started a family, and I lost track of Sharpay, her wild life and her trips to jail." Gabriella paused to take a sip of her coffee. Her throat was getting dry from all that talking. "Until last night. She found me at the clinic where I do volunteer work, and she said she wants Shelby back. She says she's been clean and sober for two years, but I don't know what to think. Even if that's the truth I can't let her take Shelby. I know I don't have any legal papers that say I'm Shelby's mother, but in my heart I am. I want to keep Shelby, but I fear that Sharpay will stop at nothing to get to her."

"And you wanna know what your chances are if this gets to court?" Bryan questioned, and Gabriella made the same 'hmm' sound that he had made before to indicate the word yes. Then Bryan got serious and became the lawyer he was. "I won't lie to you, Gabby. Because you've never officially adopted Shelby or have any papers on her being your daughter, Sharpay will have a pretty strong case if this ever gets to court, but if that should happen what we need to do then is focus on Sharpay's past and the fact that you've acted as Shelby's mother for the past six years. We will highlight her years as an addict and alcoholic as well as her legal troubles, and with me as your lawyer we might be able to win this. You've been a mother to Shelby, and Sharpay hasn't. That's what we're gonna focus on."

Gabriella relinguised some of the panic and worry she had been feeling since last night, breathing out a sigh of relief and allowed herself to smile for real for the first time that day. There was a chance she wouldn't lose Shelby after all.

"So I might be able to keep Shelby?" Gabriella asked, a small glimpse of hope accessing her features which intensified with a nod from Bryan. "Thank you so much, Bryan. You're a great friend. I was so scared that I would lose her to someone as unfit as Sharpay."

"You won't." Bryan said, truthfully believing he wasn't giving her false hope. He had won worse cases than that, and if it came to it he would also win the case between Gabriella and Sharpay. "Don't worry, I won't tell Troy about the Shelby thing. I won't tell that you came to see me either. This stays between us."

Gabriella shot Bryan an appreciative smile. "Thanks again, Bryan. I should probably get home to Troy and the kids then."

**-BB-**

_Say, Bolton... Have you ever seen Shelby's birth certificate? _Those words had echoed inside Troy's head since Sharpay had left that morning, and that's why he had begun searching the drawers and shelves in their office which was surely where one would keep those kind of things, right?

He had just finished going through the first drawer and had been unsuccesful in finding something useful so he began searching the next drawer. He came up empty with that one as well. It was filled up with receipts and stuff like that so he figured he wouldn't find anything in there.

He opened the last drawer in the desk and smiled, when he saw a drawing that Shelby had made when she was three lying on top. It was a purple giraffe with dark blue spots, and beneath it said; _to daddy, from Shelby_ in Shelby's own childish handwriting.

As he went through all the other papers it seemed as though all that he would find in that drawer were drawings by his kids. He found some doodles by Alyssa that she claimed was a rainbow. He also found a drawing by Kyle of an attempted ninja, but it was more like two very uneven circles.

Although the drawings didn't look like the things his kids had tried to draw, it was probably Troy's most cherished posessions other than his loving kids.

He had become sidetracked by looking at his kids' drawing and reminiscing the past that he had forgotten about Sharpay's words, and thereby he had also forgotten his attempt to find Shelby's birth certificate.

He decided to look at all the drawings and grasped his hands around every single one, taking them out of the drawer. Shelby had drawn a picture of their house and family with a cat on the roof. She had always wanted a cat, but Gabriella was allergic so they had never gotten one. The next was some red doodles by Alyssa and some letters in the little girls handwrting that read; _Efani._ She had attempted to draw and write elephant. The E faced the wrong way.

Troy chuckled at the memories that drawer had contained. It took awhile, but he finally managed to look through all the drawings, and when he went to put them back in their rightful place he noticed that there was still one piece of paper left in the drawer.

He placed the drawings on the desk and picked up the last piece of paper. In the middle of the top of the paper in a large font, the words _'Birth Certificate' _stared back at him. He looked a little further down to where Shelby's full name was written.

_Shelby Melody Evans_

Had Gabriella mentioned Sharpay's last name? He couldn't remember. The fact that Shelby had a different last name than Gabriella didn't mean anything, though. Maybe she just had her father's last name instead.

His mind wandered down to where he knew his own name stood on Kyle and Alyssa's birth certificates to see who Shelby's father was.

_Unknown_

That was odd. If Gabriella had written unknown where Shelby's father's name was suppose to be, how come Shelby had a different last name then?

He had a horrible suspicion when he let his eyes travel further down on Shelby's birth certificate to the place where the mother's name would be, and then he read the name out loud;

"_Sharpay Evans!"_

**-BB-**

_Chapter 2 is finally done :) . I hope that you liked reading this chapter because I was really into writing it, and I hope that you can see now that the life of Troyella and their family isn't perfect after all . I would love to hear your feedback on this chapter. Tell me your thoughts on everything. I would love to know, so yeah ... Leave me a review please.  
I'm feeling really sleep deprived now because it's 3:30 in the morning over here in Denmark, but I just had to finish this chapter and post it for you guys. It has been too long since the first chapter so I kind of feel like I owed it to you ;) . Next chapter should hopefully be here sooner ;) . And now I leave you with the usual thanks for reading and please review :) ._

**Laters,  
AK-tutti :D**


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